Six more cases of cholera in Sudan’s El Gedaref

Six new cases of cholera have been reported in Sudan’s El Gedaref state over the last two days. This adds to dozens of cases reported in the eastern Sudanese state last week.

On Tuesday a health source told Radio Dabanga that the isolation centre at El Saraf El Ahmar area of El Gireisha locality has received two cases on Tuesday, while the isolation centre at Shu'ayb area of Gireisha has received three cases on Monday and one case on Tuesday.

The medic also reported the emergence of new cases on Monday at Abuguloud area of, Gireisha but the exact figures have yet to be confirmed.

The caller said that the markets at Shu'ayb area are still closed. Local authorities have announced that they will reopen on Friday.

Journalist detained

On Monday evening, the security authorities in El Gadaref arrested journalist Ammar El Daw, the El Gedaref correspondent of El Sayha newspaper, and transferred him to Khartoum.

The authorities were acting on a report filed against El Daw by the Minister of Health in the state, Maj. Gen. Ameen El Sadig Wakeel under the Information Crimes Act.

The Minister accuses El Daw of “defamation for publishing materials related to the watery diarrhoea that has swept many localities in the state and led to the death and infection of hundreds”.

Positive tests

Official government sources insist on calling the current cholera outbreak ‘watery diarrhoea’, in spite of the results of repeated tests according to WHO guidelines showing the infection to be cholera. The media have been warned not to report on the outbreak.

In February, the Doctors' Executive Committee said the results of laboratory tests on acute diarrhoea samples conducted in the Ahmed Gasim Hospital in Khartoum proved cholera. Also an infectious diseases specialist and doctors in Sudan declared that they “are very convinced that it is cholera,” and not, as reported by federal and state governments, an outbreak of watery diarrhoea across the eastern Red Sea and El Gedaref states.